Everyone is nominated in the spring, which for Obama would either be before he took office or only shortly after. Was he nominated for his campaign slogans then? May as well give this man a lifetime achievement Oscar. True; he hasn't made a single movie yet... but he might in the future!

Here are some of the candidates Obama beat out for the Nobel Peace Prize:

Morgan Tsvangirai: was a trade union activist and leader and long-time Zimbabwean opposition leader to Mugabe dedicated to ending his "dictatorship". He has been sharing power with Mugabe since February as a result of vote-fixing by Mugabe. He has been arrested multiple times during his life and tortured and beaten by the police. He has previously received the prestigious Solidar Silver Rose Award from the European Parliament, which recognises those who demonstrate "the positive change that can be brought about by determined individuals".

Hu Jia: Chinese human rights activist of many causes (democracy, environmentalism, HIV awareness and advocacy, endangered species, and health education) who has been jailed for "inciting subversion of state power". He is currently serving a sentence of 3 years and 6 months in prison. His wife alleges that he is not being provided adequate food and medical attention in prison and that his health is rapidly deteriorating. He has previously received awards recognising his achievements, including the Sarkharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament - an important award that has also been given to Nelson Mandela and Reporters Without Borders. France made Jia and the Dalai Lama honorary citizens on the same day.

Sima Samar: a female Afghani doctor who was forced to flee in the 80s to Pakistan, where she set up a hospital to provide care to Afghani refugee women and to train and educate them. Branches of the hospital she started opened up across Afghanistan. When the Taliban was overthrown, she could finally return to Afghanistan and she served as Deputy President and Minister of Women's Affairs under Karzai's administration, until she was forced by death threats to resign. She received death threats for criticising Sharia, Islamic law, which the Taliban had previously enforced, and for speaking out against purdah and the burqa, which she noted are not only oppressive and discriminatory but lead to significant health problems for Afghani women. She has received multiple awards, including the Order of Canada (the highest order, awarded on behalf of the Queen), the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize), and the Perdita Huston Human Rights Award (given by a group affiliated with the UN).

Winner gets $1.42 million dollars, which can be used to get them a legal defense or to fund their humanitarian projects, etc.

Meh. As a diehard Obama fan, there probably were more worthy people to get it, but it happens with the Nobel prize all the time. Where were you the other times more deserving people missed out on the honor?

Also: The Order of Canada is given on behalf of the Queen? Really? That's somewhat odd.

"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

The Nobel Committee has once again marginalized itself and demonstrated the irrelevance of its "coveted" prize, the decision for which being based on nothing but hope and good intentions. This is not a criticism of Mr. Obama, but of the Nobel Committee, itself.

Furthermore, by awarding the prize to Mr. Obama, they have provided yet another polarizing flashpoint to divide those who blindly support him from essentially everyone else, including those who support him, but not blindly. Anyone who does not celebrate his receipt of the prize is seen by those blind supporters as petty, small-minded, and bitter, and are dismissed as haters, racists, un-American, etc.

It's hard to keep caring about this stuff with all the immature, antagonistic, accusatory belligerence that spoils the needed discussions.

I think it's because he plans to do peaceful stuff later on. Similarly, I am going to be a candidate for the prize for medicine next year because I'm planning to cure every disease ever. Cross your fingers for me.

I think it's because he plans to do peaceful stuff later on. Similarly, I am going to be a candidate for the prize for medicine next year because I'm planning to cure every disease ever. Cross your fingers for me.

So....you get a Nobel Peace Prize for PLANNING to do something? And here I thought you earn it for ACHIEVING something extraordinary!

LOL @ Adam. Problem is, the chairman of the Nobel Committee said, "we are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future, but for what he has done in the previous year." Which, as SNL observed, has been to accomplish two things: jack and squat.

V, the prize isn't completely meaningless. I mean, it's also been given to Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, and Andrei Sakharov.

The+Fox wrote:

Where were you the other times more deserving people missed out on the honor?

I know that you see me as having extraordinary powers, but I can't exactly make threads about things that happened before I registered here retroactively, or even happened before my birth. This is the first year I've been a member on NLife that they've awarded the Peace Prize.

.Furthermore, by awarding the prize to Mr. Obama, they have provided yet another polarizing flashpoint to divide those who blindly support him from essentially everyone else, including those who support him, but not blindly. Anyone who does not celebrate his receipt of the prize is seen by those blind supporters as petty, small-minded, and bitter, and are dismissed as haters, racists, un-American, etc..

Yeah, you can think the news channels for that, mostly. You'll see Fox News soon doing some bloated, over the top piece on him recieving the prize that takes shots at him, which will lead to another channel doing a bloated, over the top piece defending it in return. The cycle will repeat until everyone gets sick of hearing the words "Nobel Peace Prize".

"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

Clix, they've also awarded it to Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and, (drumroll please...?) YASSER ARAFAT. So of course they need to sprinkle in some worthy names here and there in order to maintain their veil of validity and righteousness.

Fox, that's the sort of accusatory rhetoric I'd like to avoid - predicting who will fire the first shot, and the "of courseness" of it being over-the-top biased.

@V-Man:Yes, but are you going to tell me that isn't the mostly likely way it will boil down? I mean, you shouldn't expect intelligent discussion from the news networks. Olberman, Hannity, all of them (on both sides) rely on it for ratings. Remeber the whole "is Cheney an evil puppet master" segments? The whole birther nonsense?

Fox, I'm going to paste your comment here, and insert my thoughts as I had them while I read your response:

Yes, but are you going to tell me that isn't the mostly likely way it will boil down? It may, or it may not - but I'm not going to prejudice the discussion by making the prediction. That's the kind of thing those idiots Hannity and Olberman would do - they argue like 6th graders, Hannity in particular only because I hear him more than I do Olberman, who may be worse for all I know. I mean, you shouldn't expect intelligent discussion from the news networks. I do, though. FOX Business (Neil Cavuto is amazing) is one example, and he crosses over to FOX News in the 4-5pm slot. Olberman, Hannity, all of them (on both sides) rely on it for ratings. Funny you should mention those guys... Remeber the whole "is Cheney an evil puppet master" segments? The whole birther nonsense? All too well.

not so much... considering those unworthy few who have also won it, us everyday people are only ever going to hold up future winners to those lame examples, whether it's fair to future winners or not. 'whoop-dee-doo, you won a Nobel Peace Prize... didn't Al Gore win one a couple years ago? Didn't Obama win one last year? lol, anyone can win those things...'

The best thing he could possibly do for himself is turn it down and acknowledge that he hasn't done anything to earn it yet, IMO, but it kinda sucks that he's being put into this position anyway. I'd be embarrassed and pretty angry at the Nobel people trying to give him that prize if I were him, having won against those other people. :/

imo, if you want a controversial presidential recipient, but one that does deserve it, how about Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for his aggressive pursuit of the FARC terrorists and liberation of their captives, or Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who literally ended three decades of terrorism and bloodshed overnight by destroying the entire Tamil Tigers terrorist organisation. This is the only time in history that a terrorist organisation has been destroyed.